SINGER Daniel O’Donnell has paid tribute to the late great country music legend Merle Haggard.
Haggard the singer whose songs such as “Okie from Muskogee” and “Fightin’ Side of Me” made him a voice for the workingman and the outsider. He was 79.
“I’m so sorry to hear of Merle Haggard’s death. He was one of the greats in country music. May he rest in peace,” said Daniel.
Haggard died on Wednesday, his 79th birthday, of complications from pneumonia at his home in Northern California.
Haggard recorded more than three dozen No. 1 country hits in a musical career that spanned six decades, from the 1960s into the 2010s.
He overcame an early life of petty crime and a prison term in San Quentin to develop a rugged, outlaw image that helped sell millions of records.
Tributes immediately began pouring in from the country music world and beyond.
Our video features Haggard and Willie Nelson from 2011.